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There are several points that require our attention when we pray-read corporately. First, our spirit needs to be stirred up. Just as every member in a basketball team is stirred up and ready to play, our spirit must be stirred up and ready to move when we come to a meeting. We are not merely attending a meeting. We must practice coming to the meeting with a spirit that is stirred up. When a basketball game begins, the players do not know to whom the ball will be passed; hence, everyone must be prepared to receive the ball at any time.
Second, we need the instant utterance. Our utterance should be living, not old. We do not pray-read from our memory or from our knowledge. We need new utterances with new inspiration. The more we practice pray-reading the Word, the more we will receive new things.
Brother Nee said that in order to speak for the Lord, we need two kinds of material: stored material, which is what we have prepared, and instant material. When we speak, the instant material is more powerful than the stored material. Some believers have only what is stored, that is, what they have prepared; they do not have the instant material. Some believers are ready to receive new material. They may have prepared enough material so that they can speak for an hour, but as they begin to speak, they have the feeling that they cannot depend on what is stored within them. Hence, they are open to receive new utterances and use new material. This should be our practice. While we are learning to meet according to the Spirit, we should not depend on old material. We should be prepared to receive new light, make new discoveries, and have new utterances. A brother may be able to recite many verses, but no matter how familiar the verses are to him, every verse that he pray-reads should be fresh and new. Instead of praying old prayers, he should be open to receive new light.
Third, we need the skill of functioning with one another. This is the skill of cooperating with one another. On a basketball team the members play as one person. In our meetings there should be one ball. Sometimes our meetings can be likened to a basketball team that plays with many balls. One player dribbles the ball and drops it; he does not care for the next player, and the other players dribble the ball and then drop it. They do not pass the ball to one another, and there is no cooperation. We need a spirit of cooperation and the skill to cooperate.
No matter how many saints there are in a meeting, we need an attitude of cooperation, and we should closely follow the Spirit. When a brother prays, he should allow others to follow. We must practice the skills needed for meeting together.
Fourth, we should not stray from the main subject but should fellowship according to the verses given in the meeting. This does not mean that we should be legal. We are free in our spirit, but we should not disregard the subject of the meeting. For example, if the subject of the verses is the Spirit of life, our testimonies should follow this central line. When our speaking is related to the subject, the meeting is not scattered.
We must lay a good foundation in our practice so that we meet in spirit, coordinate with one another, and follow the flow of the meeting. The Lord is bringing us into a new flow. We must practice to lay a good foundation and set up a good pattern.
When we pray-read, we should not be too loud. Pray-reading should have the flavor, atmosphere, and spirit of prayer, but our pray-reading still lacks the flavor, atmosphere, and spirit of prayer. It is not difficult to enter into a genuine spirit of prayer. We only need to spend time and practice. Pray-reading should have the flavor of prayer; otherwise, it cannot be called pray-reading.
For example, we may read John 14:7 and then pray-read: “O Lord, we know You, so we know the Father. To know You is to know the Father.” This kind of reading has the flavor of prayer. When we pray-read, we can say, “O Lord.” This indicates our calling on the Lord.
I exhort all the saints to practice pray-reading according to our fellowship. When we are by ourselves, we should practice turning the words of the Bible into our prayer, rather than merely declaring them as a slogan. This is the way to use our spirit and touch the Lord. When we pray-read, we should also thank, praise, and worship the Lord. When it is time to speak in the meeting, we should use our spirit and testify concerning what touched us. Even though we release our spirit when we speak, we also use our mind and our eyes.
We should no longer read the Bible in a natural way. Otherwise, we will become old and not grow. We must read with our spirit. We can pray-read the Bible with our spirit in our morning watch. We can pray-read the Bible with our spirit when we come together with other saints. We can also pray-read the Bible with our spirit in the meetings. If we would practice this, we will make much progress in one month.
May the Lord have mercy on us. We are in the age of the church, and the Lord is taking the way of recovery. There are no clergy and no laity in the churches, for all the saints are priests. Hence, we must learn to be priests. Pray-reading is a crucial matter in the age of the church. We need to lay a good foundation in this practice. May we all rise up and lay a good foundation in order to build up pray-reading as our family practice. Then it will be easy for the new ones to participate.
